UEFA Champions League Matchday 3 Reviewed: Tale of Two Days

On Tuesday October 16, the first day of Matchday 3 the theme was score first then score often. In all matches on Tuesday, October 16 the team that scored first won. But the best game of the day was actually a low-scoring affair between heavy favorite Arsenal and CSKA Moscow. Though the name of that game was eerily similar to Wednesday's mantra, it was the underdogs CSKA who came out on top, riding out a Daniel Carvalho free kick in the first half and a more conservative Arsenal attack in front of thousands of delirious fans in the Lokomotiv Stadium in Moscow. AC Milan also had their match go the way of luck, as a fortunate deflection off of a Kaka strike proved the match-winner in Brussels as Milan secured top spot in Group H. On the other side of the boot, both Real Madrid and Porto did the unthinkable, defeating two very good teams in Steaua Bucharest and Hamburg by identical counts of 4-1. The only difference is that the Galacticos did their damage on the road in Bucharest, a place not known for hospitality to visitors. But Real Madrid made the night theirs and David Beckham even came on to score his 100th Champions League goal. Porto did their work at home, yet they sent a clear message as well that they are not through despite having scoring troubles in their first two matches. Hamburg is a team in big trouble at this stage of the Champions League and may want to look at the UEFA Cup as a destination. That is a goal still in sight as Hamburg trails Porto by just four points for the third spot in Group G. In the British Isles, both Celtic and Manchester United stayed atop their groups with emphatic 3-0 drubbings of Benfica and FC Copenhagen. Celtic were in a dogfight with Benfica for top spot, having been only two points clear of the Portuguese side before the match commenced. But now the Bhoys enjoy a five-point cushion heading into Matchday 4 on Benfica, and stay within striking distance of Man U in Group F, as United stayed undefeated with their win on nine points and a 3-0 mark. In the other match Tuesday, Lille got two late goals to break a deadlock at one apiece and defeated AEK Athens 3-1, continuing the mantra Tuesday.

Wednesday, October 17, though, was a day that saw the home team win just four of the eight matches played. And it was a day unlike Tuesday, in that while there were few upsets, there were also fewer goals. Probably the game that lived up to the least was Chelsea hosting Barcelona. In a game in which the stars should have shone as brightly as the gleam coming off of one of Chelsea owner Roman Abromavich's many yachts, the replay of the UEFA Champions League Final was a snoozer, netting only one goal, a Didier Drogba strike in minute 47. While the goalkeeping was superb, an astonishing feat considering that Petr Cech is the No. 1 netminder for the Blues and is out indefinitely after a horrific brain injury, it's also important to note that between the two teams, there were only 14 shots. Other games Wednesday didn't fare much better in terms of scoring output, with Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Roma all defeating their opponents 1-0. The most ironic thing is that all three did it on the road, in front of fans supporting Sporting Lisbon in the case of Bayern, Bordeaux for the Reds and Greece and Olympiakos for the Italians. Possibly the one game that did garner a bit of a shock was that PSV Eindhoven upended Galatasaray in Turkey by the score of 2-1, on two second half goals and are now even with Liverpool on seven points in Group C. And Inter Milan used two early goals, in minutes one and nine, respectively, to defeat Spartak Moscow in the San Siro. Matchday 4 begins October 31 and ends November 1.

After three matchdays, here are the standings and upcoming matches for the Champions League:
Group A
W L T GF GA PTS
- - - - - - -
Chelsea (England) 3 0 0 6 1 9
Barcelona (Spain) 1 1 1 6 2 4
Werder Bremen (Germany) 1 1 1 3 3 4
Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) 0 3 0 1 10 0

Tuesday, October 31
- - - - - - - - - -
Levski Sofia vs Werder Bremen
Barcelona vs Chelsea

Wednesday, November 22
- - - - - - - - - - -
Werder Bremen vs Chelsea
Levski Sofia vs Barcelona

Tuesday, December 5
- - - - - - - - - -
Chelsea vs Levski Sofia
Barcelona vs Werder Bremen

Group B

W L T GF GA PTS
- - - - - - -
Bayern Munich (Germany 3 0 0 7 0 9
Sporting Lisbon (Portgual) 1 1 1 2 2 4
Inter Milan (Italy) 1 2 0 3 4 3
Sparta Moscow (Russia) 0 2 1 1 6 1

Tuesday, October 31
- - - - - - - - - -
Sparta Moscow vs Inter Milan
Bayern Munich vs Sporting Lisbon

Wednesday, November 22
- - - - - - - - - - -
Sparta Moscow vs Bayern Munich
Inter Milan vs Sporting Lisbon

Tuesday, December 5
- - - - - - - - - -
Sporting Lisbon vs Sparta Moscow
Bayern Munich vs Inter Milan

Group C
W L T GF GA PTS
- - - - - - -
Liverpool (England) 2 0 1 4 2 7
PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) 2 0 1 3 1 7
Galatasaray(Turkey) 0 2 1 3 5 1
Bordeaux (France) 0 2 1 0 2 1

Tuesday, October 31
- - - - - - - - - -
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Valencia
AS Roma vs Olympiakos

Wednesday, November 22
- - - - - - - - - - -
Valencia vs Olympiakos
Shakhtar Donetsk vs AS Roma

Tuesday, December 5
- - - - - - - - - -
Olympiakos vs Shakhtar Donetsk
AS Roma vs Valencia

Group E
W L T GF GA PTS
- - - - - - -
Lyon (France) 3 0 0 8 0 9
Real Madrid (Spain) 2 1 0 9 4 6
Steaua Buchresti (Romania) 1 2 0 5 8 3
Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) 0 3 0 2 12 0

Wednesday, November 1
- - - - - - - - - - -
Real Madrid vs Steaua Buchresti
Lyon vs Dynamo Kiev

Tuesday, November 21
- - - - - - - - - -
Steaua Buchresti vs Dynamo Kiev
Real Madrid vs Lyon

Wednesday, December 6
- - - - - - - - - - -
Dynamo Kiev vs Real Madrid
Lyon vs Steaua Buchresti

Group F
W L T GF GA PTS
- - - - - - -
Manchester United (England) 3 0 0 7 2 9
Celtic (Scotland) 2 1 0 6 3 6
Benefica (Portgual) 0 2 1 0 4 1
FC Copenhagen (Denmark) 0 2 1 0 4 1

Wednesday, November 1
- - - - - - - - - -
FC Copenhagen vs Manchester United
Benefica vs Celtic

Tuesday, November 21
- - - - - - - - - -
Benefica vs FC Copenhagen
Celtic vs Manchester United

Wednesday, December 6
- - - - - - - - - - -
Manchester United vs Benefica
FC Copenhagen vs Celtic

Group G
W L T GF GA PTS
- - - - - - -
CSKA Moscow (Russia) 2 0 1 2 0 7
Arsenal (England) 2 1 0 4 2 6
FC Porto (Portgual) 1 1 1 4 3 4
Hamburg (Germany) 0 3 0 2 7 0

Wednesday, November 1
- - - - - - - - - - -
Arsenal vs CSKA Moscow
Hamburg vs FC Porto

Tuesday, November 21
- - - - - - - - - -
CSKA Moscow vs FC Porto
Arsenal vs Hamburg

Wednesday, December 6
- - - - - - - - - - -
FC Porto vs Arsenal
Hamburg vs CSKA Moscow

Group H
W L T GF GA PTS
- - - - - - -
AC Milan (Italy) 2 0 1 4 0 7
Lille (France) 1 0 2 4 2 5
Anderlecht (Belgium) 0 1 2 2 3 2
AEK Athens (Greece) 0 2 1 2 7 1

Wednesday, Novmeber 1
- - - - - - - - - - -
AEK Athens vs Lille
AC Milan vs Anderlecht

Tuesday, November 21
- - - - - - - - - -
Lille vs Anderlecht
AEK Athens vs Anderlecht

Wednesday, December 6
- - - - - - - - - - -
Anderlecht vs AEK Athens
AC Milan vs Lille

First Knockout Round

February 20-March 7, 2007

Quarterfinals

April 3-11, 2007

Semifinals

April 24-May 2, 2007

Final

May 23, 2007